New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-11-25
BROWN AND THE GARRISONIANS.
OLIVER JOHNSON ANSWERS ELI THAYER.


surfing you that he has not harmed, but rather amused
me. Nothing suits me better than to have my atten-
ton directed the history Of the old anti slavery
days. and be called upon TO impart needed informa-
ton to bcnightcd brother.
And since Mr. Thayer and I dealing with rem
lnsccnccs OF the Kansas emigration period and he has
chosen TIE TRIBUNE as the vehicle of what he has
to say TO me- he will no doubt he Interested, as | am
the readers OF the paper VIII be- In certain pen
portrait belonging to that period, which am fortunate
ly able to produce 1t was drawn from life by iior-
ace Greeley. the founder Of THE TRErsE and though
1t is almost thirty years old is as good likeness
of the subject now as 1t was th9n. Here 1t Is:
Our faith I'm the Judgment and st,,acIty OF tho
Hon Eli Thaycr is not OF celestial altitude That MI
of the right We bcovc but II he 10 think more
and less confident he would bs more ON
cent for good and loss pcrlous-not TO say miSchcv
ous-to the cause he has at heart than he sometimes
contrvcs TO be. He seems 10 labor under constiin
tional inability to be quiet and Let himself alone lie
has the ambition to lead without tho ballast of OBJ
scrvaion and careful study which are needed 10 Gna
fy one to fill that position with honor TO himself or
safety TO the public Wore he to set sail on voyaec
of discovery. he would be certain to return wlth q
chart studded all over with fog banks which he had
rashly mistaken for continents.
If Mr. Thaycr wishes. he doubt will. to assure
himself of the authenticity of this fine portrait he can
do by searching the file Of TIE TRIBUNE for Octo
Dor, 1853. The hand of the master however, Is Wis
bc in every line II will be Of great advantage TO tho
reader 10 have before him careful study. 10y compe
tent artist Of tho man who challenges me TO combat
since he will thus be better able 10 u Ice whether or
not treat him with the Justice and courtesy to which
he is SO manfcsty entitled.
ORIGIN OF THE CONTROVERSY.
The readers Of THE TRIBUNE ought to be told how
my controversy with Mr. Thaycr began. In the first
place, then. he published some timc ago a pamphlet
sketch OF the Kansas emigration scheme founded by
himself having first read the same in manuscript be
fore the Worcester Mass Society OF Antiquity In II
the most extravagant boasts of his exploits were
interlardcd with vitupcratlon Of the Garrisonian
Abolltloniss This pamphlet reviewed in paper read
before the society, and afterward published In
pamphlet form. Whatever else may be said OF This
review treated Mr. Thaycr with perfect courtesy. as
every one who has road II will testify. diStin-
gushed Republican of Boston, after reading II, wrote
me wholly unsolicited letter, in which he sad: "
hail with thankulness your review Of Ell Thlyers
insane professions and folly II seems to me strange
that any man having knowledge of the facts could
have written such TRADE against his noble prcde-
cessors. l am glad you were here to meet him and
you done your work courtcousy as we'll AS thor
ouchlyp Another Republican, who served In rop
gross with Mr.. Thaycr summed up his View Of the
matter I'm the scntentious remark: ":Iic went mp
rocket, but came down d stick" Whether these gen
temen judged tightly or not IS not for me TO say but
II Is significant fact that Mr. Thayer has been irving
ever since to make for himself more comfort
able position by fighting his battle ocr again In
the newspapers. OF this. however / mako no
complaint. That he should dread my shipping
the fence | did in the case Of Colonel Waters,
Of Millbury, is only natural, since It would be impos
sble for me to do that without leaving him bruised and
PROSTATE under the broken rails lie need not worry
himself however, about the fence. but use a. freely
as he plcaSes for his protection
GARRIsoNIANs AID THE CONSTITUTION.
Let me rcassure Mr. Thaycr upon another point.
There could be better year than the present for
rcvivng the memory Of the attitude Of the Car
nsonians toward the old pro slavery parchment Of
1857 which contained the seeds Of the Cvl War, and
which Abraham Lincoln destroyed by his mmori al
proclamator leaving the way unolsiructcd for that
better Constitution under whch the Nation lives TO
day. The GarrisODans are far from being ashamed
of what they dId to prepare public sentiment that
made possible for Abraham Lincoln 10 perform that
righteous act, and thus to relieve the Republic Of
foul excresconcc that In the words Of our ocoecnar
an poet OF freedom, made d" the and by word
of a mocking earth Mr. Thaycr may, pcicAancc,
look back with fond regret TO tho time when vc wclc
under Constitution that lent the protection OF the
Stars and stripes for twenty years to cover the nancS
of the foreign slave trade. and which ordained that
three ont Of five Of all the slaves that could In that
time be kidnapped from Africa, with the same proper
ton Of their pOscIy and that Of all those previously
from their native land ly piracy. should be count
al forever part Of That basis Of political power
10y which the tlaickers In human flesh ruled TN, Re
public for quarters Of a century. He may la
mcnt the LAPSE Of the good old tines when, under
that same Constitution, slaves could b. hunted Hhc
Wild beasts Northern soil, and the Whole power OF
the Government was pledged 10 prevent oar Wlrt'h'd
bondmcn BUm brcalIng thcr own chains. III, 'ialr'
manlike mind may lnecr io"diy over The i'mo "hrn
the President of the ni.cd States. bound mana ana
loot. he supposed. by his constitutional oath Y d"
vanly seeking to restore the old Mon inady hI".'h
by the Shareholders by PisuadIhe thcln lhh ur i'
publican party would bc Just a. tue 10 inc cphpI"
misses supporting slavery as the older political par
ties had been, and as an earnest on his sincerity "d
executing the Infamous fugitive slave ia" WIN un'N
amplcd zeal: What If the slave Power at That llnH
had talon the President and his party at ihcir word
and laid down the weapons Of their rcbcllionf Why,
this would now be a saychOdIns Ecpubiic, and the
Garrsonian party Tie only ono LEFT I" protest ag|h,
the nlquy. surely II there rs any party that should
be ashamed to revive the memory Of those days 1t Is
not the GaIrlsouans, whose nrm and sieadfast pro
test made any rencwa Of the old compromises mpos
sble.
LINCOLN. ADAMS, CLAIMING.
1t was no doubt this very thought which President
Lincoln had In mind, when. In conversation with Gov
Chamberlain, Of south Carolina. he rcchoned" tho
logic OF Garrison" among the forces which had worked
ont the nations dclivcrancc. That logic proceeded
from premises laid down by John Quincy Adams, when
he said that the bargain between Freedom and sav-
cry contained In the (old) Constitution IS morally and
politically vicious cruel and oppressive, by rivctng
the chains Of slavery, and by plcdgng the faith OF
freedom to maintain and pcrIetuate the tyranny of
the maStcrn IL found sanction also In the words Of
Claiming, who said The free States guardians
and essential supports Of slavery We the jalors
and corstabcs of the Institution ON this subject
fathers in framing the Constitution, swcrvcd from
the right We their children, at the end OF half cen
fury, the path Of duty clearly than they, and
must walk in II. No blessings Of the MON can be
compensation for taking part in the cnslavng Of our
fellow cTcaturcs And to this conviction they must
speedily come, the power Of scfIccOvcry Will be
lost forever. and their dannaion made sure" And
yet for seeding. by purely moral means 10 arouse the
before she power of self recovery should be
lost forever and to save IT from damnation all the
crans in the land unite In branding the GarrsOnians
with 0pprObrious epithets, and Mr. Thaycr calls them
Anarchists. thus Offering the greatest possible Insult
TO the Intelligence Of his readers
Mr. Thaycr. 1t IS plain, belongs to TOO numerous
and not over class Of men, who suppose that
Garrison. when he denounced the old slavery Con
stuion as "A covenant with death and an agreement
with hell Only uttered a burst of profanity Of his own
Invention. vh.rcwIth To stgmafhc 50 rctling very
sacred whereas he with his usual felicity In
quoting Scripture simply apprOprlatinH phrase from
Isaiah author long taboOcd In pro slavery circles
for his Incondary language" Never was any passage
book Of ns piratIon fclictously applied fc
4 LII La, iIn In